Gladiator
Gladiators were professional fighters in the Roman Republic and later in the Roman Empire, who fought against one another and died for the entertainment of their audience in the arena. Gladiators were usually condemned criminals or prisoners of war, however, free men also volunteered for purposes of personal gain seldom participated. A gladiator that is victorious in his match is awarded coin, rising fame and respect from the spectators. Fallen gladiators are either put to death by the command of the editor of the game, or sent to the the Pit. Gladiators were taught the combative skills required at training enterprises called ludi, which were headed by a Lanista, and instructed by a doctore, whom overseen their training. A gladiator that excels in combat and is continuously victorious in the arena, will rise to become champion of his respective ludus. Gladiators were branded with a mark, symbolizing what ludus they belonged to and to whom. Gladiators did not have friends, but had allies, rivals, bosses, spies, supplies and double-crossers. A new gladiator learned who to trust, who to doubt, who to look out for and who would cover his back. Many gladiators arranged their apponents tomb stone had that apponent come from the same ludus. Gladiatrix Women were also trained as gladiators, though during Spartacus' time, not many gladiatrices existed. During Spartacus' rebellion, Allovera was forcibly trained as a gladiatrix in the underground pits in Capua, able to fight on the battlefield alongside the pastores' and gladiators. Gladiator Fighting Styles Samnite The Samnite was an early class of gladiator, quite popular during the period of the Roman Republic. Eventually, other gladiator types joined the roster, such as the Gaul-inspired Murmillo and the Thracian-inspired Thraex. Around this time of Emperor Augustus, the Samnite gladiator fell out of favour, probably because insulting the Samnites was no longer seen as acceptable behaviour, and the Samnite was thus replaced by similarly armed gladiators, including the Hoplomachus and the Secutor. Murmillo Thraex Hoplomachus Dimachaerus Cestus The cestus was a fist-fighter or boxer gladiator who wore the cestus, a brutal forerunner of the boxing glove. Retiarius Secutor Rudiarius The Rudiarius was a gladiator who had earned his freedom received a wooden sword (a rudis) or perhaps a wooden rod (a rudem, which was used as a practice staff/sword). If he chose to remain a gladiator, he was called a rudiarius. These were very popular with the public as they were experienced. Not all rudiarii continued to fight; there was a hierarchy of rudiarii that included trainers, helpers, referees, and fighters. Scissor The scissor (plural scissores) used a special short sword with two blades that looked like a pair of open scissors without a hinge. It is speculated that they attempted to trap their opponents' weapons between the twin blades in order to disarm them. others have speculated that this type of gladiator fought using a weapon consisting of a hardened steel tube that encased the gladiator's entire forearm, with the hand end capped off and a semicircular blade attached to it. Laquearius Laquearius is a gladiator style whose primary tactic was to "lasso" their opponent, and then close in for the kill. It is possible that they were meant to mirror the Sagartians. The Laquearius appears late in Roman gladiator history, and it is not entirely clear if they were a fully-fledged fighting class of gladiator such as the Retiarius or Hoplomachus, or a paeginaerius style, non-lethal "clown act" between matches. Oplomachus Andabata Arbelas Bustuarius Crupellarii Equites Essedarius An Essedarius was a type of gladiator in Ancient Rome who fought from a chariot. There may have been just one man in the chariot, or two, a driver and a fighter. Velites Venator Bestiarius Bestiarii (singular bestiarius) were those who went into combat with beasts, or were exposed to them. It is conventional to distinguish two categories of bestiarii: the first were those condemned to death via the beasts (damnatio ad bestias) and the second were those who faced them voluntarily, for pay or glory (venatio). The latter were gladiators; to their contemporaries, however, the term gladiator referred specifically to one who fought other men. The contemporary term for those who made a career out of participating in arena "hunts" was venatores. Paegniarius The paegniarius was a gladiator who did not engage in serious combat with lethal weapons, but was rather an entertainer who performed "burlesque duels" during breaks. He had neither a helmet nor a shield, but wore protective wrappings on his lower legs and head. Provocator Provocatores have been shown wearing a loincloth, a belt, a long greave on the left leg, a manica on the lower right arm, and a visored helmet without brim or crest, but with a feather on each side. They were the only gladiators protected by a breastplate (cardiophylax) which is usually rectangular, later often crescent-shaped. They fought with a tall, rectangular shield and the gladius. They were paired only against other provocatores. Sagittarius Tertiarius In some games three men were matched against each other. The first two would fight, with the winner then fighting the third man, called the tertiarius ("third man"). Tertiarii would also act as substitutes if an advertised gladiator was unable to fight. Editor In Roman times, at the games, an editor was an overseer or "referee" of the gladiator fights. Their job included giving talks at the opening and closing of the games, announcing who was fighting and to choose if a defeated gladiator was to live or die. Usually the role was held by a magistrate, one of the government officers of the Roman Republic. At times lanistas, such as Lentulus Batiatus would play the role, though usually due to the lack of a magistrate being present. Editors also existed for smaller fights, although the term editor would be used very lightly. Third Servile War : Main Article: Third Servile War During the slave rebellion led by the gladiators Spartacus, the combatants started off as being mainly comprised of gladiators, both from the ludus' of Lentulus Batiatus and Marcus Aurelius Scaurus. These gladiators trained thousands of former slaves who joined their ranks, which proved a serious threat to the Roman cohorts and legions sent against them. From then on gladiators were given special attention; no gladiator was to speak to someone of the same language in the ludus or in training, for fear of conspiring and plotting. Known gladiators Gladiators Ludus of Lentulus Batiatus * Spartacus * Crixus * Oenomaus * Gannicus * Castus * Carbo * Drapaes * Peirastes Ludus of Accalius Vibius * Gorovus * Kleitos Ludus of Aurelius Scaurus Historical gladiators *Spartacus from Capua *Crixus from Capua *Oenomaus from Capua *Castus from Capua *Gannicus from Capua *Oceanus from Pompeii (had 13 wins in the arena) *Sevelus from Pompeii *Priscus (a Celt) *Verus *Spiculus *Crescens (a Retiarius) *Septimus (a Retiarius) *Caladus (a Thracian) *Marcus Attilius *Carpophorus *Drusus *Flamma *Emperor Commodus *Albanus from Pompeii (had 19 wins in the arena) Category:Occupation